


Grow Up

by Blackghost7



Category: NCIS
Genre: First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-25 00:45:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2602364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackghost7/pseuds/Blackghost7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gibbs is waiting for Tony</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grow Up

“Grow up, Tony! Please…”

The first three words were familiar by now, he heard them every once in a while, from Ziva with a tinge of disgust, from McGee with a quiet exasperation, from Abby and Ducky with a glint of humor. But this time it was Gibbs who spoke the words, and if Tony read the man correctly, it was said with a slight desperation. And he hadn’t done anything particularly childish or juvenile when they were spoken. He had just been his usual self, flirting with the female witness in order to coax her into calming down and getting information from her. Then there was that last word, a word Gibbs seldom if ever used, and Tony couldn’t figure it out.

He was sitting on his couch, television showing a movie, sound turned down to background noise, sipping a beer and contemplating the words and their meaning. He had been pondering them ever since they had been spoken, at first just turning them over and over in the back of his mind while still working the case, then on the drive home and sitting on his couch coming more and more to the forefront until it had taken over all his thought processes. And still he couldn’t figure them out. This was getting him nowhere. He needed more information. And he could only get that straight from the source. Taking his decision, he set down his only half empty beer, grabbed his keys and headed for his car.

Having arrived at Gibbs’ place, he sat for a quiet moment in his car in the driveway, wondering if he was doing the right thing. Gibbs was not one to share and expected his agents to understand the meaning of his grunts and half words without having to explain himself. But this was driving him crazy and if he wanted to retain some semblance of sanity, he needed to get answers. A man of action, he got out of the car and headed into the house.

As expected, he found Gibbs in the basement, working on his boat, bottle of bourbon close at hand. His boss did not look up as Tony bounded down the basement stairs, did not acknowledge his presence. This was nothing new. Tony simply grabbed one of the jars of nails from the workbench, emptied its contents and checked to see it was relatively clean, then poured himself a few fingers of bourbon. As he closed in on Gibbs to get to the bourbon, Tony thought he noticed a slight tightening of Gibbs’ shoulders. It was something he had noticed happening more and more lately, and he was puzzled by it. He knew Gibbs trusted him and had never tensed up when Tony got close to him, but recently that had changed.

Taking his jar over to one of the sawhorses nearby, Tony sat down and sipped from the bourbon for a while, watching his boss working on the boat. He wondered how to broach the subject, but just as he took a deep breath in order to just throw the question out there, he saw Gibbs’ shoulders sag a little and heard a soft sigh being released. Then his boss proved he knew Tony better than anyone in the world, knew what was on his mind. Tony had to strain to hear the words, but caught the quiet mutter. His puzzlement only grew.

“It’s excruciating.”

Staying quiet for a few moments, Tony tried to link these words to the ones he had come to ask about, but didn’t manage. When nothing further seemed to be forthcoming, Tony spoke.

“What is, Boss?”

A few further moments of silence hung in the basement before Gibbs seemed to reach a decision and as he resumed sanding the boat, he elaborated.

“Watching you flirt with everyone.”

Before Tony could ask why, Gibbs spoke again.

“With everyone but me. Been waiting for you to grow up. Tired of waiting any longer.”

That had Tony stunned and he stayed silent, turning the words over in his head and looking at them from all sides, trying to find the catch. His boss couldn’t mean what he would seem to mean when taking the words at face value. However, Gibbs also never lied to him. Omitted things maybe, but never lied. And he certainly wouldn’t be playing Tony, not over something like this. So how should he interpret this? If he did take the words at face value, that would mean something he never thought he could have suddenly became available to him. And he had entertained that something only in his fantasies, sure that it could never become a reality; had put a lid on it as soon as he had realized which way he was headed and that it could only lead to disaster. After all, Gibbs didn’t swing that way, surely?

~~~~~

Gibbs waited quietly for Tony to process his words and kept sanding. He had laid his cards on the table and now it was Tony’s turn to respond. Watching Tony flirting outrageously with the witness that afternoon, Gibbs had felt his resolve break and before he could stop himself had spoken the words that he knew instantly would lead his senior agent here tonight.

He had been attracted to DiNozzo from the moment they first met ten years ago in Baltimore, but he had still been married then although headed for divorce. Besides, he wasn’t sure whether DiNozzo even swung that way. But after the younger man had started working for him at NCIS, he would catch DiNozzo staring at him sometimes, and had noticed him blushing when he got caught at it. Sometimes the comments DiNozzo made to Gibbs could be construed as flirting, especially combined with the lingering looks, but it was never outright obvious. And whenever DiNozzo flirted with someone else, it was in a different order altogether and clearly obvious. So Gibbs clamped down on his attraction and shoved it away.

As the years passed, as they overcame the loss of team members, loss of memory, Jeanne and separation, their bond grew. DiNozzo’s flirting diminished somewhat and the stories of hot dates died down. Gibbs had felt that there might be a chance, but had it stamped on again when EJ happened. He had decided to let his feelings go. But today, when he saw DiNozzo in full flirt mode again, something in him broke and it had lead them here.

~~~~~

Tony felt the thoughts whirling in his mind. He’d had the hots for his boss from the very beginning, but despite his looks and flirting with the man, had never had a sense that it might be reciprocated. Over the years, the physical attraction had turned into something more, until he realized he wasn’t just attracted, he was in love. Ten years on, everything that had happened in between, and he was still in love. Never having had any reason to believe it might lead to anything, he’d put it away and ignored his feelings, throwing himself into one night stands and women’s arms, trying to find something he could settle for. But unsurprisingly, that never worked out. So eventually he had resigned himself to living the rest of his life pining after someone he would never have. And he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

And now here was his boss, suddenly opening a door to everything he longed for. What to do? Right, man of action.

Tony put down his bourbon jar, stood up, strode over to his boss, took the man in his arms, kissed him soundly, and all was right with the world.


End file.
